maypole
"maypole" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“maypole” is uncommon English (frequency #72,530 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #72,530
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day.
Corpus desk
Index EN-maypole · maypole · English
maypole · rank #72,530 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #72,530
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH matchy
Nearest frequency peer: matchy (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “maypole”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Marmara
Marmara
27,474 corpus weight
- matchy
matchy
27,472 corpus weight
- maypole
maypole
27,471 corpus weight
- McClane
McClane
27,470 corpus weight
- McGuigan
McGuigan
27,469 corpus weight
- Medeiros
Medeiros
27,468 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “maypole” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | maypole |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #72,530 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “maypole” in English
Rare enough to double-check
maypole is uncommon English at frequency #72,530 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for maypole, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Compound of May + pole, so called in reference to its use on May Day. The correct English form is maypole, spelled M-A-Y-P-O-L-E.
Definition
- 1A pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day.
- 2A very tall girl or young lady.
- 3A maypole-like structure of sticks placed about a sapling in the bowers of certain species of bowerbird.
- 4A penis, especially a large one.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how maypole appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
How would you like the maypole decorated?
The maypole, the focal point of many traditional spring games and festivities, is believed to be a relic of ancient phallic worship.
Etymology
Compound of May + pole, so called in reference to its use on May Day.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "maypole", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).